An average of 170mm of rain fell during July, “an exceptional event” according to SIR.

The worst affected areas were Versilia, close to Lucca, and the Serchio river basin. Both places saw 450mm of rain in July, with Serchio registering rainy days for half the month.

Temperatures fell across the region to 21.1C, more than two degrees cooler than the 1981-2010 average of 23C.

Tuscany is not the only Italian region to have suffered from a bout of bad weather during July.

Last month part of Milan’s metro was closed, while streets were transformed into flowing streams, when the river Seveso burst its banks after heavy rain. More recently four people died when a flash flood hit a festival close to Venice.

The rain has also put a damper on Italians’ holiday plans. An August poll found that 16 percent of Italians had cancelled their holidays because of bad weather, while the number of beachgoers in July fell by 30 percent on last year.